


Thieves of the Land (Astronaut AU)

by masononotom



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Aliens, Astronaut, Multi, black rom, blood mention, death mention, gotta think about it, its mostly plot though, more tags in the future maybe, no gore nope nope nope, one-sided relationships, red rom, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-20 00:17:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4766354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masononotom/pseuds/masononotom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The beta kids vs the trolls; astronaut au. Jade and the beta kids travel into space and find a race of aliens on a planet they call Alternia. They were trained to fight together in the event that they would encounter any foreign species. The planet they land on is dying. Meteors rain down upon it and there are few surviving aliens. The four friends have to find a way to save the remaining inhabitants before their planet and their species is gone forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Go Bright Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beta kids awaken from hyper-sleep as scheduled, but there's a problem. They search for the source.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally decided to post my homestuck astronaut au. It is made to be mostly plot-centric, but I have added a few of my favorite pairings as well to keep it interesting. I will try to update it every 1-2 weeks. Enjoy.

Four containers encased in a strong, glass-like material sit side-by-side in the main deck of the space ship. Inside each, a different face is partially visible, obscured slightly by the substance which holds them frozen in a state of suspended-animation. The ship runs routine maintenance protocol every hour to ensure that the four young humans it carries in those containment units are safe. Each hour a red light flashes briefly and to check the area around, and then dims down again when no threat is detected. The autopilot setting is equipped with both a top of the line navigational system and a motion-detector which compensates for any and all objects which could potentially cause damage to the vessel in order to make sure the team of teenagers can only be woken should a real emergency occur. The voyage has been going smoothly for about three years but now, the first warning signals have become visible. The red light floods the dark room, scanning the area in and around the spacecraft to check for any sign of a threat. An alarm, which would be deafening if anyone were around to hear it, sounds as the four containers are brought to a vertical position and opened. The red light dims as the siren stops, and the deck is instead flooded with an intensely bright light. 

Your name is Jade Harley and you are the first to wake up. You blink at the harsh white light which floods the room as you attempt to understand your surroundings. Your long, black hair pokes up at wild angles caused by the position you have been stuck in for so long. You wiggle all of your fingers and then your toes, making small movements to regain feeling in your stiff limbs. After you are sure you are able to, you step out onto the main deck of the ship. In front of the pod you had been occupying sits your standard-issue space-suit complete with the custom-made goggles with prescription lenses to help your poor eyesight. The suit you use to actually exit the vessel sits next to it, the large, round helmet polished and clean atop a small pile of stark white clothing of the kind all astronauts use. After becoming fully clothed, you make your way over to your work-station on the far left. The small screen which sits in front of your assigned seat shows no indication of a potential threat to security. 'Why would it wake me?' You think to yourself, 'surely there must be something out there which poses a threat'. You decide to wait at your post as security specialist until the captain is roused from his sleep. 

The next to wake; however, is not him. It is instead the intelligence officer, Rose Lalonde. She is a short, light-haired girl who stands at about 5'3" with eyes so blue they appear almost violet and a kind, relaxed face. After Rose pulls on her uniform, you stand and give the salute you were taught at a young age to use to address a fellow team member of equal rank. You take the thumb of your left hand and place it in the center of your forehead before pulling it away abruptly, bringing your arm down sharply to your side. After a moment of calculated movements on Rose's part as she attempts to grow more used to the use of her arms and legs, she returns the gesture, giving the two of you the ability to speak freely. 

"Why were we woken?" Rose asks, her voice semi-raspy with the quality of just waking up in the morning. Her short blonde hair still lays flat in its normal position, in sharp contrast with your mussed up appearance. She clears her throat briefly before continuing. "Have we reached our destination already?"

"I'm not sure exactly." You answer honestly, "My sensors don't show any signs of a threat, and the navigational systems show that there is no way we can possibly have reached the planet yet."

Rose purses her lips before replying, "There has to be something the radar picked up on." She walks swiftly and with purpose to her station on the left side of the deck next to yours. You follow a few steps behind, matching her stride.

You both stand before Rose's computer filled with all of the information she had collected before boarding the ship. You let out a small whistle as you watch Rose sift through the data, "You sure did your research Rosey." 

Rose gives you a very calculated glare, a look which she has perfected and patented after a little over a year of working with your team, and replies fluently, "Why yes of course, I felt the need to be fully prepared before attempting this mission. Any other course of action may as we'll be considered suicide." Rose looks back at you with a sly grin, "But I suppose you wouldn't mind a suicide mission what with your massive amount of weaponry. Most of which, if I may add, was not approved for this mission."

You let out a small laugh, "I sure missed you Rose. I missed our little talks."

"Why? I have been next to you all of this time haven't I?"

"Yikes." You say, holding your hands up defensively, "Could do without the sarcasm though."

Rose smiles and looks back to her computer. "Hush and let me work. Go check and see if your boyfriend or the commander have woken up yet."

'Dave,' You think suddenly, a rush of both excitement and worry coursing through you. You turn to hurry towards the containment units to check on him, almost leaving before realizing that you had never said anything about this to Rose. 

"Wait," you begin, "How did you--?"

"How did I what?" Rose counters without looking up from her computer, "Discover that you and Mr. Strider have been involved romantically for a little over a year now and have been struggling to keep it a secret so that you can both maintain your jobs and go on this mission without it interfering with the mindsets of the instructors or other participants?" 

You stand speechless for a moment. "But I thought--"

"You thought that you had hidden it well and that no one would find out about it?" Rose turns to look at you, "Information is what I do, Jade. I search for and gather information based on my observations and experiences and I can tell you with certainty that you and he are, in fact, an item."

You stare back at her and blink, "You won't...uh--"

"Tell the captain?" Rose replies with a small smirk, "Of course not. And regardless of whether or not I were to choose to disclose this information, Captain Egbert is oblivious to what many can see with the naked eye even after the concept is thoroughly explained to him. He would probably ignore my sound logic and reasoning and insist that the two of you still remain 'just friends.'"

You cross your arms and quirk an eyebrow at her, "You sure do know how to figure people out, don't you? You could probably give any other intelligence officer a run for their money." You laugh a little and add in an excited tone, "You're maybe even better than Roxy!"

Rose grows quiet and turns back to her computer screen. "Yes. Maybe." 

You are about to explain that you didn't mean to offend her when another crew member walks up behind you. 

"And what are you ladies discussing on this fine day?" You turn with a broad grin to see the familiar face of a boy with pale, white-blonde hair and red eyes. He has already changed into his uniform, his including a set of goggles similar to yours but with a dark tint to ensure that his sensitive eyes will not receive any damage due to harsh light.  "Hell," he continues, "it might not even be daytime. How do you even tell time on this hunk of junk?"

"This is irrelevant, Dave." Rose replies simply, "We are in deep space. Time and all means of measuring it are warped from here on out. Also," she added, "this ship is hardly a piece of junk. It is a fully equipped space-faring vessel which--"

"Same old Rose," Dave says, cutting her off. Dave subtly reaches around to give you a one-armed hug so that Rose can't see it. 

"She knows," you whisper, looking down slightly at his freckled face. He only stands about a half of an inch shorter than you, but you make sure he'll never be able able to forget that. 

"What do you mean she knows?" Dave replies, back at a regular volume. Very subtly, he straightens his spine to his full height to attempt to become eye-level with you, causing you to stand on your tip-toes and laugh quietly. 

"Oh I know." Rose says with a smug smile. 

"Know what, Rose?" says a voice coming from behind your small group. Dave immediately drops his hand to the side before giving the person a salute very similar to the one you had used to greet Rose. Each of you take the thumb of your right hand and press them against your foreheads before pulling them away abruptly and placing them at your sides in perfect synchronization. You all turn to see John Egbert. He is a small guy, the shortest out of all of your group save Rose who stands one inch below him, with messy dark hair which stands on end in three different areas, giving him the appearance of a person who just woke up, and a goofy grin caused by his large overbite. He wears the same uniform the rest of your team had been issued, but his is lined with the medium blue trim which means that he is in charge. He has goggles very similar to the ones you have except that the lenses are square instead of the large circular ones which adorn your face. 

"Good to see you Captain Egbert," Rose says. She still stands rigid, refusing to relax until told. 

"I already told you Rose," he replies in a slightly exasperated voice, "that's so impersonal. I want you guys to just call me John."

"Captain John then," Rose states, not budging. 

"Whatever you say, Lieutenant Rose," John answers, letting out a sigh before turning to you and Dave instead. When he sees that the two of you are also standing stock-still, he adds in a slightly uncomfortable tone, "Uh- at ease guys," causing the three of you to relax ever so slightly. "So what seems to be the problem?" John muses as he moves towards his station in the center of the room. The large monitor covering the entire front wall shows all of what the ship is passing as though it is a large window the likes of which would be impossible to maintain at such speeds. 

You bite your lip nervously before replying, "We don't know John, my radar shows no signs of any potential threats and the ship has no need to deploy any weapons."

"That's probably for the best. What about you, Rose? What did you find?" 

Rose stands straighter and answers in a clear, precise tone, "I have nothing out of the ordinary to report, sir. According to my research all of these planets and stars we are seeing in this portion of the galaxy are in the proper alignment for this time of year. There seems to be no form of disturbance from what I have gathered."

"Rose. I told you you don't have to call me those sort of things. I know that I'm technically in charge of the mission but I am first and foremost your friend. Ok?" He turns to Dave instead, "What about you, Dave?"

Dave shrugs his shoulders and puts his hands up in defeat, "I'm in the same boat you are, man. I just woke up out of the chamber just like you."

John nods, "Well once you get to your post be sure to give us an update."

"Can do, chief," he replies, giving John a small, casual salute and turning. He strides confidently to the far right side of the room where his computer and workstation sits. 

A few minutes later Dave returns to the small group. "There doesn't seem to be any problem with anything in my area of expertise as per usual. Everything is pretty air-tight as far as technology is concerned." A small smirk forms on his face as he turns to look at Rose, "As it should be considering I'm the one that helped put it together." Rose rolls her eyes. "But yeah, we seem to be all good. Wonder what happened."

"I suppose I should go check," John says uncertainly. Rose gives him a small nod of encouragement. He turns away from the group and begins making his way towards the central control panels. He walks down the main corridor, down into the lower deck, and out of sight. Dave walks up to the center computer and scans his hand to access his possible commands on John's station. He types quickly to make the monitor display the images from the security cameras on the lower floor. Soon enough, John's image appears on the screen. 

In the center of the floor John now occupies, there sits a large machine hooked up through various wires and tubes in the walls and ceiling. A slightly eerie, violet glow floods the whole area, covering the walls and floors in purple light. John walks up to it and looks at the reading on the fuel gauge. His brows crease slightly in concern as he reads what he sees. "Dave," he says through the small communicator on his wrist, "it looks like our grist levels are running low."

Dave looks at his own communicator in confusion before answering, "How is that possible? We were told we had enough fuel to last us three years."

"Well it seems like that's about how long it's been. We're running low down here."

Rose turns on her own communicator and gets John on the line as well, "How much do we have left?" 

John squints slightly at the gauge "It seems we're at about ten percent fuel capacity right now."

You watch as Rose seems to run some calculations in her head. "Well, it seems that we all owe you a happy birthday then, Captain."

John looks at his communicator again in confusion, "What?"

Dave quickly adds himself to the conversation, "Oh shit happy birthday, man. Looks like you're three years older now."

You lean over and talk through Dave's device, unwilling to hook your own up at the moment. "Happy Birthday John!" You say gleefully. 

John smiles to the security camera, "Well thanks guys." he looks back at the fuel gauge, "We should really figure out what to do about the grist levels though."

"There doesn't seem to be any sign of a planet containing grist nearby," Rose says, moving closer to her computer station, "In fact, there doesn't seem to be a sign of a planet we could land on safely anywhere."

John bites his bottom lip a little, "I'm coming back up. We'll talk about it in a second." He makes his way over to the ladder and climbs back up and out of sight.

When he returns to the main deck, he rejoins your small group. "Rose," he starts, "are you sure there are no planets nearby that are at least ok to land on?"

"None that our navigational systems have deemed suitable to sustain life."

John turns to Dave instead, "Dave, can you make sure?"

Dave groans quietly, but it's still loud enough for you to hear the small amount despair that he tries to keep out of his voice, "Why does it have to be me?"

"You  are  the technology expert," Rose says, "you understand this technology far better than any of us, yes?"

"Yeah, but like--" 

"Dave," You begin as you turn to look him in the eyes, "It'll be fine." Dave sighs. You proceed to take his hand and drag him towards the central computer which doubles as John's station and the navigational system. 

Dave gazes at the large screen as he places his hand on the scanner to unlock it for his use. "Welcome Dave Strider," says a mechanical voice, "long time no see."

Dave rolls his eyes in such an exaggerated manner that you're afraid that they may fall out of his head, "Hello Hal," he says, trying to keep his tone neutral, but failing in keeping the slight edge out of his voice, "display all possible routes to the nearest planet we can land on."

"Wow ok not even a please? Not cool man," comes Hal's voice through the speakers. 

"Please," Dave replies, the bite in his voice completely apparent. 

"That's more like it," Hal says, "Displaying all routes to the nearest planet." The screen zooms in on several planets before focusing on one in particular, "sector 413 planet number 111, code-named: Alternia. There is an 87% chance that the planet can sustain life. Also a 52% chance that the planet will contain a source of fuel."

"There's no planet called Alternia appearing in my database," Rose muses with a pensive expression, "are you positive it even exists?"

"Why yes. The planet Alternia is a relatively small planet which orbits a large star much like our sun but in much closer proximity making it near impossible to venture out during the daytime without protective equipment. It is inhabited by--"

"Yeah, yeah thanks Hal. Just set course to it then," Dave interjects, pushing the button for autopilot. You can't help but wonder what sort of creature Hal had been about to describe. 

"What's the magic word?"

"Do it Hal."

"No that's not it"

"Now."

"It starts with a 'P'."

"Just do it you worthless piece of shit computer!" Dave shouts, losing his temper. 

"Sheesh," comes the reply, "is that any way to talk to your big bro?"

"You are not my bro!" Dave yells, hitting his fist against the table in front of him fairly hard. He shakes his hand to get rid of the pain spreading through his fingers. 

"Your bro and I are about 100% the same guy," Hal replies.

"You can't claim to be him"

"Why? I am him."

"No. You're not."

"Oh but I am." 

"Whatever!" Dave says, raising his hands in defeat as he backs away, "I'm done with this back and forth bullshit. Jade, take over."

You open your mouth to stop him as he storms down the hall but you are stopped by the voice behind you, "Leave him Jade," Rose says, "continue inputting the data."

You shift a little bit out of nervousness before scanning your own hand to unlock your options screen. 

"Hello Jade Harley," comes Hal's voice again, "How's it going?"

"You didn't have to do that you know," you say, feverishly pushing the correct buttons in order to go find and comfort Dave faster, "he feels bad enough already."

"Do what?" Hal says in a voice which sounds genuinely inquisitive, "talk to him? Tease him? Explain to him the basic knowledge that Dirk Strider and I are 100% the same guy?"

"Well none of those things are particularly helpful."

"What have I done wrong here, Jade? Dirk designed me based upon a scan of his own mind. Everything that Dave's bro is, I am. Does that not make us the same?"

"Stop," You say, holding up one hand, "you know how that makes Dave feel. He already hates himself for beating his brother out of the position on this team you have no right to make it worse by pretending that you are somehow the same person."

"But we are, Jade. The only difference between Dirk and I is my ability to process millions of gigabytes of information in seconds and Dirk has the same sort of body as you meat-sacks whereas I am confined to the inner workings of this ship. Aside from these minor modifications we are the same guy." Hal replies, emphasizing the last few words of the sentence by pausing after each one. 

"That and Dirk actually has emotions," You say with a small glare in the general direction of his voice. 

"I can't help that," Hal says, "it's not in my programming."

"I am shutting down your vocal operating system," you say, moving several switches before lingering on the last one, "have anything else to say?"

"Jade wait," Hal begins, "I don't want to be shut down again. You can't do that."

"And why not?" you answer without moving. 

"I'm scared to not exist," he begins. His mechanical voice sounds so much like Dirk's own that you don't know how Dave can ever stand it. It's his voice for sure but far more mechanical; more cold. Emotionless and empty; until now. The voice he uses seems to be pleading with you. It is such a pitiful sound that you find your hand moving away from the switch a little.  "Aren't you?" His last words ring through the room and echo. You didn't hit that switch. You spin around to see Rose's hand still touching the switch. You give her a small nod of thanks which she returns. There had been a hint of something in his voice that you couldn't quite place. Remorse perhaps? Fear?

His words hung heavy in the air. 'What does he mean by that?' you think to yourself, 'he still exists right? He just can't speak anymore. Right?' your eyebrows furrow, and you close your eyes. You shake your head to clear your thoughts. 'I should check on Dave.' you think suddenly. You push all other thoughts out of your mind and continue, 'yes. Dave.'

You shuffle quickly down the hall in the direction Dave ran. When you finally spot him, you discover that he had been walking back in you direction as well. "I'm sorry Jade, I uh- I over-reacted," he stutters out, "I just can't--"

        You shush him, holding a finger to his lips, "It's fine. You didn't do anything wrong." you lean towards him and kiss his cheek. You take his hand and intertwine your fingers, pulling him back towards the main deck just as the lights begin to flash and the sound of a siren pierces your eardrums. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment if there are any problems or you have any questions/things to say about the story.


	2. Scour the Forest Through the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids' spaceship lands, and they venture out to explore their new surroundings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter is a go. I'll probably continue updating this on Sundays so be on the lookout for them if you want to continue reading. Thanks for all of the feedback guys it means a lot!

You're running. You hold on tight to Dave's hand. One look between the two of you had been enough to tell you what you already knew; you're all in danger. The two of you run as fast as you can. Your long legs cause you to run in front of him, and you drag him along after you. 

"Jade!" He shouts, not far behind, "we have to get back to the main deck! I can't leave Rose alone again!" His tone is not as composed as it normally sounds. The nervous and almost frantic quality in his voice at the thought of abandoning his sister is enough to make you quicken your pace. 

"I know!" You're running harder than you ever have, and the heavy breathing coming from behind you indicates that the same is probably true for Dave as well. 

When the two of you finally reach the main area you are greeted by the sight of John frantically pushing buttons on the main control panel, and a much calmer Rose watching the navigational system from where she is strapped into her chair. The first thing Dave does is release your hand and run to her. 

You would be offended if you didn't understand his reasoning. When the four of you had been training the simulations of an emergency situation had proved a little too much for him. He never explained what had happened in his situation much more than to hint towards the fact that something awful must have happened to Rose. You would ask, but you're not one to pry. Instead you turn your attention towards your own brother. 

You walk up behind him and lay a hand on his shoulder causing him to jump slightly in alarm before relaxing at your touch. "What's happening?" You ask. 

"I don't know!" John says, seeming frantic as his eyes search the control panel again and again as if there must be something he's missing. "Nothing is working! It's like it's broken!"

You look up at the large screen. It is almost completely covered by one planet which you seem to be moving towards at an alarming rate. "Or we're not in control anymore," you whisper, almost to yourself. 

John turns his head to stare at you for a second. "How can that be? We're the only ones here!"

"Maybe not," you say with a shrug. You're trying to keep him as calm as possible so he can continue to do his job, "just a thought."

His eyes widen a little in fear as he returns to his sporadic button mashing. "Go to your station and strap in, Jade. I don't want you to get hurt and this could be a bumpy ride."

"Only if you do the same," you reply, refusing to budge. 

His wide eyes turn to look at you. He looks so small in that moment, when in reality he is the elder of the two of you. His fearful expression combined with the way he looks to you is enough to break your heart. His whole face looks as though he is pleading with you to comply; begging you to be safe. You kiss his forehead as though he is much younger than you and hug him tight. You hear him release the air from his lungs in a long, low sigh as you take your seat across the room. You make eye contact once buckled in and nod at him in encouragement. Another sigh. John sits down and straps himself in as well. 

Sometime during all of this Rose has somehow manage to evade Dave's tearful reunion and the two of them are also seated in their respective seats. You see that Dave's face has regained its usual composure when he turns towards you in his chair. You give him a slightly worried look and he nods at you in much the same way you had nodded at John. You turn towards your station and prepare any and all weapons to deploy if necessary. You don't know what kind of things are going to be on this planet, but whatever they are you are not going to leave your team--your friends--to defend themselves. You will not leave them helpless. Not again. 

Rose is still watching the monitor in what appears to be confusion. Since you are the closest one to her, you decide to allow your curiosity to get the better of you. You try to be semi-discrete about it, but the sound of the siren overhead, although it's far fainter now than it had been initially, forces you to speak at a louder volume than usual. "What is it, Rose?"

Rose blinks back at you as though coming out of some trance; she must have been completely zoned-out. "Though the monitor is showing the planet that is pulling us in, the radar in the corner is showing no signs of anything anywhere near us."

You look up at the monitor now and find that she is correct. "How can that be?"

"I don't know," she says with a sigh. She hesitates slightly before continuing, "but I know who we could ask."

You look back up at the screen. "Hal?" Hearing no response you glance at Rose's face and she nods. 

You're about to unbuckle your straps when Rose holds you back with one hand. "No," she says, "we'll ask when we land. Right now it's only important that we remain safe and the only way to do that is by remaining seated."

You sigh and release your buckle. "I hate this helpless feeling."

"I know," she says as she looks you in the eyes. She takes one hand in her own, "we'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

You are about to ask her how she could possibly be sure of anything when all of a sudden the ship jostles violently, causing you to bounce slightly in your chair. You quickly look back and forth to check that everyone else is still secure and, to your relief, they are. 

"Guys," your brother says. He sounds smaller and more nervous than you've heard him sound in a long time. He clears his throat in an attempt to calm his nerves and speak normally. It doesn't quite work. When he answers his voice wavers slightly causing your eyebrows to crease in concern for him. "When we land we need to go into emergency protocol," he looks directly at you. His eyes are brimming with tears. "Jade," he chokes out, "ready the weapons. Just in case."

You nod, not wanting to tell him that you've already prepared this because of his fragile state. "Yes John," is all you say.

"Everyone. As soon as we land we'll put on our breathing equipment and look at what happened."

"Assess the damage essentially?" Rose asked, as calm as ever. 

"Uh- yeah," John says, "and then we'll make a plan to look for fuel. Okay?"

"Okay," the three of you echo back. 

"If we even make it out alive to look," you hear Dave whisper. You look over at him. After the many talks you've had with Dave over the years you consider yourself pretty adept at picking up on his thoughts and emotions, even when he thinks he is hiding them well. There are many things that could be running through his mind right now. Thoughts of his father, who had died when Dave was young, leaving him, and his four siblings to be raised by their mom. It was hard for him when his mom had started drinking. There was no one to watch after him other than his eldest brother who wasn't the best guardian. He had an odd way of trying to prepare his siblings for their lives, but he was especially hard on Dave for some reason. The vigorous "training" he put Dave through was, in your opinion, bordering on abuse. Or perhaps his thoughts drifted towards his uncle and aunt, the true parents of Dirk and Roxy, who had also passed away. It was so long ago that he wasn't old enough to remember clearly, but that didn't stop him from wondering and thinking about them often. His mother had taken her sister's kids in without question and, quite frankly, they had always felt more like siblings anyway. Dave wouldn't say much about any of them past that, but you know what happened based on the things you've heard from the rest of his siblings. What all of this bulls down to is you know Dave is no stranger to death. He's not afraid of the concept--never has been--and he's not about to start fearing it now. 

His nonchalant comment seems to catch John off guard; however, because he looks at Dave as though he had just slapped him across the face. 

"How could you say that, Dave?" He asks, the nervousness returning to his voice, "we'll be fine." You really wish your cousin Jake were here right now. He always seemed the best at calming John down out of the four kids in your family. Thinking about Jake in this circumstance makes you a little sad as you remember what happened last between you, so you push it out of your mind for now. 

Instead you decide to imitate the kind of thing he would say, "It's ok, John. He's just a little worried is all. Cheer up, chap."

John gives you a confused look. Apparently your Jake impression is not entirely convincing. 

Rose clears her throat to draw everyone's attention. "I believe we should all pay attention to the monitor until we have landed safely. This planet's field of gravity seems to be pulling us in at a far faster pace than we intended so we should quite likely brace for impact here shortly."

The three of you exchange looks and nod at her. You start to focus on the main monitor again. The screen shows the ground rushing up to meet your ship at an alarming rate. You are slightly relieved to hear Rose's comment about the field of gravity being the thing pulling you in, but it also brings up the possibility that you'll be unable to stop, so you'll crash when landing. You still can't help but wonder what will be in store for you on this new planet. 

Suddenly, you feel a large jolt. There is a small yelp that you believe comes from John, but no one ventures to comment on it. Everyone is dead silent. The artificial gravity isn't enough to keep you pinned to your seat. You find yourself lifted upward slightly as though you are at the top of a roller coaster going down. You squeeze your eyes shut in preparation for the next impact.

It's not as bad this time. The sound of the metal hitting the ground is loud, but the shock you receive is not nearly as powerful. Several small bumps later, the ship has stopped moving. The four of you sit in silence before you hear Dave unbuckle the strap which secured him. He says, "Let's go," and walks back towards where the uniforms are. He seems completely unfazed, but you can't help but notice the small shake in his step. 

The three of you unbuckle and stand as well. For a moment you find yourself unable to maintain your balance and nearly fall. You are able to catch yourself on your chair. You bring yourself back into an upright position. Your feet feel heavy, as though your boots are glued to the floor. Each step is made with a great deal of effort until you see Rose slowly making her way over to the central controls. She flips a few switches and says, "brace yourself." She turns the artificial gravity of with one more switch. John must have still been walking as though it were on; however, because he jerks his foot off the ground with a great deal of force and soon finds himself laying on the ground. You take a second to find your balance again and run to him. You help him up, and the three of you walk back in the direction Dave had walked off to.

When you get there, Dave is sitting on the ground. He is holding his left ankle between his hands as though it hurts. When he hears you coming, he cringes slightly and stands back up. "Give a guy a warning first next time," he says. You figure he must have done the same thing John did and overcompensated for the amount of force he'd need to lift his foot. You rush over to him and hug him. 

"Ahem," Rose says behind you. You drop your arms to the side and turn around, slightly embarrassed. "We should equip our suits now I believe. If anyone is opposed I suggest you speak now."

"I oppose" Dave replies with a hint of bitterness in his voice. It causes Rose to lift and eyebrow at the challenge. "I ain't gonna go out there on some god-forsaken planet with a bum ankle."

"Oh please," Rose responds with a wave of her hand, "you're completely fine."

"Naw Rose, this biz is bad I tell you," he lifts his foot off the ground and attempts to roll his ankle, wincing slightly in pain and stopping before he hurts himself more. 

"It's all in your head, Dave," Rose says, her voice growing slightly impatient, "there is no way that the injury you have received is anything worse than a bruise or at the very worst a sprain. You've had wounds far superior than that and still managed to run laps at SBURB academy."

That was true. Dave had. Back when the four of you were still in the process of training back at the Social and Behavioral Universal Reaserch Branch academy, or SBURB academy for short, Dave had managed to obtain just about every injury in the book. There were times when he would go home so covered in bumps and bruises that he found himself unable to sleep, yet he would always be right back at it the next day. This is when you realize something else must be going on. Could it be that Dave is actually scared? Or is it something else? You decide to focus on the task at hand instead, but you can't shake the feeling of concern this gives you. 

After the four of you have changed into your space-suits, including Dave although you had to help him a little, you all walk towards the main exit with your helmets in hand. You look around at everyone's faces. John and Rose both look determined, although there is a hint of something close to fear in John's eyes which he tries to keep out, but Dave does not. Although the goggles he still has to wear obscure his eyes, you can see that his eyebrows are furrowed in concern. You put an arm around his waist to allow him to rest part of his weight on you instead of his injured ankle. You put on you helmet. John takes a deep breath once everyone's helmets are secure and working. He put a hand on the latch, and slowly opens the door. 

The planet you open up to is nearly barren. There is a small clearing of trees of to the side, but most of the surface you can see is covered in a type of red crushed rock that appears to be much like that of Mars. The temperature is cool, but not freezing, so you turn off your heating element of your suit to conserve power. There seems to be no sun or star in close proximity to give it light, which doesn't make sense considering the temperature. You figure it's probably just this planet's equivalent of night at the moment.

"Ok, well, we should probably split up and look for supplies," John says after the four of you have stared at the planet for a solid 10 minutes in silence. The three of you nod and he continues, "I'll take Rose and go investigate things to the right," he says, pointing towards that direction, "and Jade, you and Dave take the left," he continue, pointing off towards the small forest you had noticed earlier. 

"Man no fair," Dave chimes in, "How come you and Rose get the clear path when I'm over here with a jacked up ankle."

"You'll be fine," Rose replies, "you'll be safer with Jade than either of us. She is our weapons expert after all. It would be foolish to send John and myself into treacherous territory with our atrocious aim."

"You know that's not what I meant," Dave answers in almost a whisper. You pull him a little closer in an attempt to offer some reassurance. 

"So is everyone ok with the plan then?" John asks. 

"Yes sir." You and Rose reply immediately.

"Yeah, I guess," adds Dave. 

With that, you move out. Dave is mostly using his own weight to support him at this point, but every now and then he'll stumble and have to catch himself using the arm you still hold around him. In your unoccupied hand you hold your gun. It's an old gun. One you aren't quite sure will stand up against the things you'll find on this planet, but one that hasn't failed you yet. In simple terms, it is a laser-firing rifle. It looks very similar to a regular Garand brand rifle aside from the added, clear barrel in which energy is directed, and made into a more constant for of energy known as a laser beam. The fact that this planet seems to share many characteristics with earth made you choose to go with the simple, classic design you have become most familiar with over the years. Should something occur, you have to hope and pray that Dave will be able to stand on his own two feet for a second in order to give you your other arm to fire it. 

When you've reached the edge of the forest, Dave removes himself from your grip and begins walking by himself albeit with a slight limp. He says, "You'll need to keep both of your arms ready. Just in case," and you nod, refusing to question his decision. 

The two of you walk in near silence. The only real sound either of you make is the sound of Dave dragging his left leg across the foliage on the ground in an attempt not to injure it further. If he really isn't hurt too bad, he sure is committing to this lie. You feel a little bad for doubting him, after all relationships are supposed to be honest and he's never really lied to you before, but you can't shake the feeling that he's hiding his true intentions. 

"What's that?" Dave asks, disrupting your thoughts. You look behind you to see that he is pointing at an area just outside of the tree-line a good ways ahead. On the ground, something is laying in the middle of the clearing. 

"I'm not sure," you reply. You squint a little at the thing in the path, but it doesn't help. "Come on, let's go check it out." You quicken your pace a little.

"Hey hold on," Dave called after you, "I can't move that fast!" But you don't slow down. No, you start running. You don't know why, but you get an odd feeling about the large mass of black laying on the ground before you. The closer you get, the larger this thing appears. 

When you reach the clearing you stop and look around. There are no trees around this area, but this doesn't appear to have always been the case. There are trees that appear to have been forced down littering the area around the object you had been running towards that you now see is some kind of large rock. The rock looks like it must have fallen onto these trees, but when you look up there is no sign of a mountain or and form of rock structure to be found. "A meteor?" You ask aloud. 

You are soon after joined by Dave. He bends down with his hands on his knees and tries to catch his breath. He is winded, which tells you that he must have been running, another suspicious action for someone who has an injured ankle. When he stands up straight once again he seems to put too much weight on his ankle and moves to a position where he can put most of his weight on his right foot. 

"How do you think this happened?" He asked once he had enough breath to speak again.

"It seems like a meteor," you answer. 

Dave makes a small "hm" sound and you're both silent. After a few minutes Dave talks again, "You don't think it's like our planet do you?"

You shrug and take on a worried expression. You hadn't thought about it like that. "I'm not sure. We don't know anything about this planet."

"Well let's look around for some sort of clue or something," Dave begins, walking up to stand beside you, "you can take the left and I'll take the right, and then we'll meet in the middle on the other side. Okay?" 

"Okay yeah. Let's do it."

You watch Dave limp over to his side and out of view before starting to walk the direction you were told. It sure is a lot of ground to cover. The circumference of this thing is at least the size of a track field you'd wager. About 400 meters around and about twice or maybe even three times your height. No wonder everything was destroyed. 

You're about halfway around your side of the meteor when you see something lying on the ground. From a distance, it looks to be a large mess of tangled black string. You squint a little at it but it doesn't really help any. You decide to move a little faster to check it out. 

After a light jog over there, more details have become apparent. The first thing you notice is that the tangled mess is not actually string but a large mass of curly, black hair. The next thing you notice is the curled, orange and yellow horn barely peaking out of the creature's massive amount of hair. And the last thing you notice has you screaming Dave's name at the top of your lungs. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little tiny cliffhanger for you guys. I bet some people can guess what's up. Anyways I hope you're enjoying it! Kudos and comments are always appreciated. If there are any mistakes or if you have any questions be sure to say something.


	3. Searching for a Sign of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and John meet back up with Dave and Jade and they each relay what they have seen. They soon encounter a new threat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stalk me!  
> Personal: masononotom.tumblr.com  
> Fandom: green-eyes-and-hella-thighs.tumblr.com  
> Deviantart: master-of-mushi  
> Kik: theyfearedsleep

It takes all of your strength not to gag at the sight of it. You suppress the urge to scream Dave's name again in case there is something else like this alien in front of you somewhere nearby. You instead take a deep breath to calm your nerves and decide to take a closer look. 

The creature looks very much like a human. The proportions are fairly similar. Two arms, two legs, two eyes, it's all the same. You circle around to the other side to look at its face easier. Her face, you assume it's a her due to its feminine features, is a soft gray color. Her lips are painted a deep red, as though she has applied lipstick, and her eyes are bordered by black, applied in black points branching out from the corners like she is wearing eyeliner. In her hair, you once again spot the curved horns on her head. They are slightly textured, much like a ram horn. They begin a dark orange and fade into a bright yellow at their tips. Her huge mass of curly, black hair lays out behind her, framing her face and her serene expression. While you're looking at her, you can't help but think she looks very beautiful. 

You turn your head to look at her torso. At this point, you are very grateful you can't smell anything through your helmet. From about the hips down, her body has been crushed by the meteor. A pool of rust red blood has formed around her. You are about to venture a poke at her wound when you hear frantic footsteps behind you. 

"Jade?" Dave calls. 

"Shh," you reply in an urgent manner. You beckon him over with a wave of your hand. 

Quietly, Dave walks over to you. As he reaches you, he begins to whisper, "Why'd you screa-" his eyes land on the alien girl before you. "Oh wow," He says, staring at the corpse of the creature, "uh- what should we do?"

"I don't know," you reply nervously. 

"We should at least tell Rose and John, right?"

"Yes. Yes let's do that." You turn on the communicator on your wrist. Deliberately quiet, you speak into it. "Meet back at spaceship," your voice quivers a little as you speak. You wait a few minutes, but there is no response. You push the button and try again. "Please." There is nothing but static on the other line. "Guys we need your help."

It's John that answers after the third message. "Roger...that. See you...there." He sounds winded. Each time he pauses he takes an audibley deep breath to steady himself. "We'll....discuss our...next plan."

"Roger that," you reply. You turn to Dave, "We have to go back to the ship."

"Yeah I heard. Let's go."

The way back is not nearly as difficult as the way there had been. You follow your previously blazed trail straight back to your ship and wait for the arrival of John and Rose. 

"You ok?" Dave asks, quirking an eyebrow over his dark goggles. 

"I will be," you take in a shaky breath, "when we get some fuel and get out of here."

You've never felt so tense in your life. Your arms refuse to move from their fixed position and your legs ache from all of the walking around. You try to decide what to do next, but you can't seem to organize your thoughts in a way that makes sense so you end up scowling and clenching your fists a little tighter around what's in your hands. 

"You should probably put down the gun, Jade."

You had forgotten you had been holding it. You look down at your hands and find it pointed straight at Dave. You quickly change the gun's aim but refuse to put it down. "I need to be able to protect us," is all you can think to say. 

"Jade," Dave begins. His hands gently try to remove the gun from your stiff fingers. "In this state, you'd be more likely to shoot the first thing that moves than you would be to shoot an actual threat. John and Rose could get hurt."

You think back to your training days. The simulation you all had to endure. The choice you had to make. You let Dave take the gun. He sets it gently on the ground to be used in case of an actual threat and puts one hand on the hilt of the sword strapped to his side. You've told him many times that you could easily give him a better weapon, but he refuses to accept one. You don't push him to anyways. His brother Dirk had given him that sword the day the four of you were chosen for the program with SBURB and Dave hasn't dared to remove it since. Every remnant of home seems like a treasure these days, so you can't blame him for clinging on to it.

It seems like a long time before Rose and John are with you again. They run up towards you, neither one slowing down. Rose still seems composed, but you can't imagine how that's possible judging by the way John runs with a wild, frantic look in his eyes. "Jade! Dave!" He shouts at you. 

Your stomach does a small flip as you and Dave attempt to quiet him. You hug him close to you and take care not to allow your helmets to make contact. He quiets down a little and relaxes into your arms. He starts to say something but before he can speak loudly again Dave interrupts him, "Shut up, man," Dave whispers, "something could hear you."

"You saw them too?" John asks, his wide eyes filling up with fear anew. 

“Sort of,” Dave replies.

“What is that supposed to mean?” asks Rose with a skeptical tone.

“Well,” Dave looks at you for a second, “the one we saw was dead.”

“Ah,” Rose seems to mull this over, “What was the cause of death?”

“I would say the giant meteor that landed on her was enough to kill anything,” Dave replies, making the incident seem so casual in comparison to the lifeless body you had seen.

“Her?”

“Well I assume it was a her. She had that sorta, I don’t know,  feminine feel, you dig?”

“I see.”

“Her facial features and stuff seemed real girly I don't know,” Dave says before backtracking a little, “Not that that's really any indication when dealing with an alien, but that’s what I’m goin’ with unless someone can prove me wrong.”

“Fair point,” Rose replies and purses her lips. It’s not often that Rose will back down from an argument in the making, but you figure  she is too focused on the conversation to jump onto the fine print of what is being said at the moment.

“What did you all find?” You ask, trying to steer the conversation back to where it needs to be.

Rose opens her mouth to reply but is promptly interrupted by John, “There was a whole village not far from here. There were huge houses and roads and vehicles but we didn’t really see anything using any of it. We looked around for a long time trying to find some sort of fuel that they could have been using, but we didn’t really find anything.”

“Is that all?” Dave asks, one eyebrow arched in curiosity, “Why were you all running so much?”

“Yeah,” you add, “And you seemed pretty out of breath when I talked to you through the communicators.”

“We were seen,” Rose says somberly.

“Seen?” Your eyes widen a little, “Are you sure?”

“Fairly certain,” Rose replies, “There was one alien sitting on the outskirts of the village, some sort of sentry perhaps, and it seemed to make direct eye contact with John.”

“Really?” You ask, a sense of both concern and curiosity washing over you, “What was it like?”

“It was crazy,” John replies, “It had smooth gray skin and two nubby horns sticking out of its hair,” he takes his hands and places them against his head to demonstrate the horn-placement. “And those eyes,” John shivers a little bit, “They were yellow. And not like the irises or anything. The whole eye minus the pupils was bright yellow.”

“The horns on the one we saw were like a ram’s,” you remember, “I wonder if there’s a reason for that.”

“The aliens seem very similar to us anatomy-wise. I would be very interested to study one up-close to add to my research,” says Rose.

“Well why not now?” Dave asks, “I mean we have access to one and although it’s probably crazy gross, it’s better than nothing, right?”

Rose makes a small sound as though considering it. You look at Dave in a slightly concerned manner. You don’t want to go back to see that dead alien again. You don’t know if your stomach can take it. Although you were chosen to be the weapons expert of this team and were therefore expected to kill if necessary, you’ve never done it. You're an excellent shot and can hit a target from a mile away but to kill an innocent creature? You don't know if you can handle it. The only time you think you'd be able to would be when it's too late. In the moment after the final has fallen. The moment after all is lost. The only time you think you can is when that animalistic, burning desire to avenge those who have been lost ignites inside of you. You can only really think of one okay this could happen. The way it had in your simulation. You don’t ever want to face that again.

"I'm going to grab my forensic equipment from the ship, wait here a moment," Rose says, pulling you out of your thoughts. Apparently in your temporary state of unawareness she had agreed that you should all venture into the forest again. Rose and John both make their way back onto the ship. 

"I'm sorry," Dave whispers to you, "I didn't know it would upset you."

"I'm fine," you lie, "it's an important part of the mission to document all life on the planet after all."

Dave looks at you skeptically and takes your gloved hand in his, squeezing it reassuringly. 

When the other two reemerge they are both laden with scientific equipment. You recognize some of it from when you were younger and used to categorize plants with your grandfather. There are a bunch of swabs, vials, and microscope slides for taking samples, and magnifying glasses for closer examination. There are also things you recognize but haven't ever had to use yourself such as the scalpel Rose holds in her left hand and the pair of surgical scissors. The rest of the plethora of equipment is completely foreign to you. There are various types of scanners and tools that you have no idea how to operate, or even what they are meant to do. You go along with Rose's collection strategy though and offer to carry some equipment. You pick up your gun from the ground at your feet with one hand and hold a box with the other. You don't know why but the gun makes you feel a little safer, even if you know you won't fire it. 

The four of you take your time walking through the forest this time. You examine the trees and shrubbery. It’s pretty, you think, and although you aren’t able to recognize any of it, your basic knowledge of plants makes you start to question how it got there.

"Hey Rose?"

"Yes?"

"Since the plant life here is basically the same as it is back home, wouldn't that mean there's some sort of atmosphere here."

"It would indeed."

"And also that there would have to be a source of water."

"Mhm."

"And sunlight."

"True," Rose looks at you with a slightly amused expression. "I'm happy someone other than me was able to make this connection."

"So why are we wearing our helmets?" Dave asks suddenly. He moves to take his helmet off, but Rose stops him.

"We don't know that it's safe, Dave."

"But these trees have gotta produce, what? A shit-ton of oxygen, right?"

"Very precise measurement," Rose replies. She rolls her eyes. "But yes. There is a ‘shit-ton’ of oxygen in this atmosphere."

"Then why are we standing here in helmets when we could be livin' it up without ‘em?"

"We don't know what potentially harmful substances could be in this air," Rose says patiently. 

"Well shouldn't we conserve our oxygen supplies?"

"We will," Rose counters, "when we get back to the ship."

“But then we’re wasting our ship’s supply.”

“Which shall be fine so long as our suits remain intact.”

Dave seems done arguing for now, but you hear a quiet mumble that you think sounds like "that's crazy stupid logic." You nudge him with your elbow to quiet him. 

“Come on guys,” John says to break the now uncomfortable silence forming around you, “we're nearly there.” You walk on without speaking to each other. 

When you reach the meteor again, it's worse than before. In the hours that the alien’s corpse had been left unwatched a variety of flying, insect-like creatures had claimed the body as their own. You can hardly stand to look at it, but Rose’s eyes seem to light up as they see the spectacle. “This will do just fine,” she states before beginning to unload her equipment and organize them by size and function, “would you care to assist me, Jade?”

Your eyes widen a little. “Me? Wouldn't you prefer someone a little more qualified.” You cross your fingers and hope she won't make you go through with this. 

“Well of course I would if there was someone else available,” she responds, “but given the other candidates are these two, no offense boys, and you are the only one even semi-capable with a scalpel I'm afraid I don't have a lot of options.”

Your stomach drops a little to hear her say that. You can't stand disappointing anyone but you don't know how you could possibly do this without gagging.   
You wish your step-sister Jane was here. She was anyways good at this sort of thing. Sort of pressured her into carrying on the family business and becoming a baker, you had always thought she would make a great doctor. She was never affected by lookin g at wounds and could deal with them completely unfazed. Many times after you had been exploring in the woods surrounding your backyard you would come back to Jane already holding a first-aid kit. She would dress your wounds with antiseptic and bandages, dry your tears, and kiss you on the cheek. It made you feel better each time without fail. Jane was a nice person, a good listener, and a natural healer. You wonder what she's doing now.    
You don't notice the tears threatening to spill onto your cheeks until you feel a small nudge from Dave. Everyone is looking at you. You blink away the tears and smile. "I'd be happy to help," you tell Rose.   
Rose side-eyes you skeptically, "If you say so."    
You spend the next hour or so finding out what makes the alien tick. You don't do a lot of the actual medical work aside from occasionally taking a sample when instructed and handing Rose the necessary supplies. You really are grateful that that is all she asks of you.

When you've done all that Rose asks you have filled several vials and various containers with samples of hair, skin flakes, nail clippings, and a large amount of blood. “Last thing,” Rose says for about the tenth time. She then proceeds to break a small piece of horn from the tip and put it in a jar for later. Seeming fairly pleased with her newest collection, she begins to pack up to take all of the samples back to the ship.

John looks at you. He has been standing and staring at the alien corpse the entire time you and Rose were working. “Do you think we should bury her?”

You consider this. You really don't want to look at this accident any longer than necessary but you feel obligated to help John tools on from this. You nod at him. 

Dave slaps John on the back before putting his arm around his shoulder. “Yeah man. We’ll have the best goddamn alien funeral ever.”

John looks at Dave and smiles. This causes you to smile so now the three of you are smiling like idiots as you each take a small container from Rose to dig with.

It takes a long time without the proper equipment but you eventually manage to dig a pit which is just barely large enough to house her body, save the legs. Dave and John work together to lift her and place her in the grave. “I feel like maybe we should say something about her?” John says with a good deal of uncertainty. “It feels wrong to just leave her here like this without saying something.”

Dave clears his throat and begin to speak. “Well, we gather here today to bury this alien which we knew nothing about. I'm sure you were pretty cool though. Uhh… Sorry you got hit by a meteor. That was pretty messed up. I hope you're alright and hanging out in whatever alien heaven exists out there. Uh, yeah. Rest and peace and all that.”

His speech makes you smile a little. You look over at John. It doesn't seem to be having quite the same effect on him. His eyes make him seem as though he could burst into tears at any moment. “Is there nothing else we could do?”

“I don't think so, bro.” Dave answers, “Just gotta step back and let nature take over from here.”

“Besides,” Rose chimes in, “we all knew what we were getting ourselves into when we accepted this mission. It was likely there could be casualties.”

You don't know why, but something about that strikes you the wrong way. “What is that supposed to mean?” You demand. 

“Excuse me?” Rose replies, seeming genuinely confused by this change of pace. 

“What is that suppose to mean?” you repeat, “This was meant to be a scouting mission and nothing more. Why should we expect casualties when this is supposed to be a peaceful exploration? And furthermore--”

“Jade.” Rose looks at you with a very serious expression now. You shut your mouth. “We are scouting for a place to live. A place that humans can live. Whatever creatures we encounter are bound to disagree with our hope to populate their planet and take their resources. Casualties were to be expected.”

“But Rose,” your eyebrows crease as you try to convey your point, “it doesn't have to be like that. We could live together. The species already here and humans. It could be highly benefi--”

“Jade you're the fucking weapons expert,” Dave says, quieting you again. The way he's speaking concerns you, “you have to be there ready to protect us. You can't just abandon is because you're having some sort of moral dilemma you gotta be there ready to kill if we need you.” 

That's what he says, but his eyes seem to convey something else. Although you can barely see them, you consider yourself to be pretty adept at the art of Strider-deciphering. His eyes tell you that he's scared. He's scared and you know you're not exactly helping. All of this arguing and trying to say that you don't want to fight has Dave thinking that you won't even if there's a need for it. That you won't protect him. That you won't protect yourself. 

You open your mouth to say something--anything--to help Dave understand. 

  
That's when you see the yellow eyes. You can't help but fall silent. You stare at them, unblinking, and they do the same. The words of warning don't have time to exit your lips before you feel a pair of hands latch onto your shoulders. Everyone else seems to be in the same situation, squirming and wriggling against their attackers. You can't make out any faces but you feel certain that they are the same aliens as the girl you buried. You kick backwards, aiming for where the sun doesn't shine in hopes of throwing your assailant off of you. You manage to evade their briefly, but before you can yell Dave’s name you feel you helmet being taken off and you rush to hold your breath. You hear him call for you. You are hit hard in the back of the head and the air is gone. You fall to the ground as the world seems to spin around you and everything becomes black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't update any for a while there. I kept trying to update but real life kept getting in the way. I had a problem juggling this and my birthday weekend and tsubasacon at the same time. Hope you enjoyed and as always feel free to comment if there are any mistakes or if you have anything to say.


	4. Memories of Fears and Strife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade dreams about her training days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stalk me!  
> Personal: masononotom.tumblr.com  
> Fandom: green-eyes-and-hella-thighs.tumblr.com  
> Deviantart: master-of-mushi  
> Kik: theyfearedsleep

You're dreaming. You know you are. It all seems so realistic, but you know it's not real.  The colors are a little too vivid; the light is too bright. In your mind’s eye you squint at the bright room and begin to look around. 

You know this place. It's the room you trained in. But where are the others? There were 8 of you here. Two groups consisting of two families with four siblings in each all fighting for a spot in the scouting mission SBURB had been organizing for years. They should be here. 

A man in a stark white suit and green shirt and tie approaches you. Your eyes once again search for signs of your friends. No. They aren't here. This is your solo evaluation.

As the doctor moves closer to you in order to put the simulation headset on you, you watch every part of your body attempt to reject it. You are unable to move. He approaches you and crouches slightly near your face to begin the procedure. His rather bulbous, entirely bald head and pale skin seem to glow white under the harsh light of the medicinal lab. The dream moves around you and you suddenly feel very ungrateful for your keen memory and vivid imagination. When the headset is in place, Dr. Scratch tells you the same instructions you were given when you actually went through this the first time. 

“Well my dear, it seems this is the final stretch. All you need to do is sit back and relax. Allow the headset to do its evaluation and let you mind wander with it. Think whatever you feel is right and the simulation will do the rest.”

You get a terrible feeling as colors begin to swirl around you and the dream begins to change.

In a flash everything is different. It is as though your brain skipped forward in time. A tall figure looms over you. No longer the elegant gentleman known as Dr. Scratch, but instead a thing of foreign origin. An alien, perhaps, or maybe some sort of species of animal on a distant planet. You open your mouth to let out a scream but no sound escapes your lips. The thing before you is terrifying in its appearance and overall size. It has massive muscles and eyes which seem to be a hundred different colors all changing and morphing into one another at once. It's head is in the shape of a skull with horrifyingly sharp teeth. The skin which is visible beneath his colorful, billowing robe is a dark, sickly green. He carries a great cane and sports a golden prosthetic leg on his right side. He moves his hands in what could have been elegance were his figure not so grotesque to gesture at the room around you. The situation is presented before you again as it had been so long ago. 

Dave, Rose, and John are now visible in front of you. A single siren blares in the background as they all hurry around the room of a simulated spaceship. All at once, a door is flung open. Everything begins to be sucked outside into the void of space.

“Choose,” the creature before you says. His deep voice echoes throughout the room and he points a single, clawed finger at your three companions who are beginning to slip out the door with the rest of the things on the spaceship. The alien remains unmoved. 

“I can't choose between them,” you try to reason with it, “They're my frie-”

“Choose,” it says again, its tone of voice becoming a little more impatient.

“I can't do that!” You frantically look back and forth from the face of one friend to another. Rose seems to be having an inward struggle as she attempts to avoid the opening approaching her rather quickly. She doesn't allow her fear to fully register on her face. She latches onto her workspace which is firmly connected to the floor. John is hectically flailing his legs and the arm that isn't preoccupied with holding on to his own workstation in an attempt to propel himself in the opposite direction. Sheer terror engulfs his expression. Dave isn't struggling. He clings almost lazily to his workspace to at least look interested in his well being, but he doesn't seem to be overly concerned for his own safety. He is instead attempting to advise John on what is best to do in this situation in order to calm him and attempt to help him. 

“Choose!” The creature booms again, breaking your train of thought.

“I...I-”

“Choose! Choose! Choose!” 

Just like that all of the workstations your friends had been clinging to disappear simultaneously. With the little support they had to keep them aboard gone, they each fall at an alarming rate towards the gap. Defying the laws of physics which you are apparently exempt from in the simulation, you run. You shoot forward as quickly as you can and latch with a killer grip onto John’s arm. You reach out to Rose next, catching her by the ankle.

You semi-toss them into the other room and shut the door with an air-tight seal. You run back towards Dave. He is the furthest away from your initial position and the closest to the door. You watch, nearly in tears as he begins to float out the opening. You reach your hand out before you and scream his name as loud as you can but it's not enough. Dave’s hand doesn't even graze yours when he reaches out. You see his mouth form the shape of a scream and then he is gone. Lost to the cold, soul-sucking darkness of space. Tears spill over your cheeks as you jump out after him. 

The scene changes again. Dr. Scratch is removing the headset from you and attempting to sooth you. “Be quiet child it's not real,” he says with a pat on the back you assume is supposed to be soothing, “they are all fine. You did very well.”

You don't care how well you did. You failed him. You failed Dave. You couldn't save him and so you chose to throw away your own chance of survival. You watch yourself as though you're a different person as tears stream down your face. 

“You did exactly what I knew you would do.” Doctor Scratch continues, “I have a bit of a knack for predicting things of this nature.”

You don't want to hear his self-promoting, arrogant bullshit. If he could have guessed what you would do then why use the simulation at all?

“Let's go and take you back with the other candidates.”

You can tell that you are being guided along, but you are numb to the feeling. The doors of the long, straight hallway mean nothing to you. You try to mentally prepare yourself for facing your friends again after what you've seen. 

Everyone is waiting for you when you enter the room. Their heads all turn to trace your motions. 

You wave sheepishly. “Hey guys.”

Dave nods at you and the others remain deathly-still as if looking away would cause you to burst into flames. 

The door shuts behind you with a large amount of clatter. As soon as everyone is sure Scratch is a reasonable distance away, they begin to talk.

“You ok?” Dave asks. His brow is creased in concern but his expression is otherwise unreadable due to the dark sunglasses he always had to wear. 

“I'm fine I guess,” you reply. 

“We were just talking about what our simulations were like,” chimed in the friendly voice belonging to Roxy Lalonde, Rose and Dave’s elder sister, “I already talked about mine a little although there wasn't that much to tell. There was a simulation of a spaceship and the door opened and Dirk, Jake, and Janey started to fall out. I just hit the latch button and closed it.” She tosses her blonde, shoulder-length hair a little before fiddling with the bobby pin that holds her singular pin-up curl. Your step-sister, Jane, had been the one to teach her how to do that. You had all grown so close back in those days. “Easy-peesey,” she says with a small smile. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why hadn't you thought of that?

“Rosey won't tell us what happened in hers.” It's then that you notice the protective arm Roxy has perched on Rose’s shoulder. You have a feeling that if anyone, even a member of your group, where to touch her, Roxy would kick their ass into next week. 

“I don't see why it is any of anyone’s business,” Rose adds. Her voice is as composed as usual albeit a little shaky.

“Man I feel so dumb compared to you, Rox,” says Dirk Strider, the eldest of the four Strider-Lalonde children. He ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair and sighed. His dark, pointed sunglasses don't allow you to see his eyes which is just the way he wants it. “I wasn't even able to save my goddamn boyfriend.”

Your step-brother Jake moves closer to him to try to console him. He doesn't seem quite sure what to do. Dirk remains composed but you can clearly see the hand he holds firmly around his waist, as if he could be taken away from him at any moment. They had been dating for awhile at this point, and, because your family is close, you knew far too many details. You also happened to know that, underneath his ironic exterior, Dirk was, and is to this day, just a clingy guy who needs constant attention. A thing your brother finds fairly confining. You remember feeling a little bad knowing that Jake had been wanting to break up with him for a while. 

Jake breaks your train of thought. “I lost you, Jane.” He says, staring at her with tears in his eyes. “I'm s-sorry,” his stuttering breaks your heart, “I wasn't able to get to you in time. 

“It's ok Jake it was just a simulation,” Jane says in her normal quiet, soothing manner, “it's not real and it's not your fault.” She makes her way over to his side and they embrace. “I wasn't able to save anyone but you.” Her kind eyes look a little pained, “I'm sorry guys.”

You hear a sniffle coming from the left of you. You whip your head around to see John, large tears rolling down his face. He is staring at the ground in order to avoid eye-contact. You take his hand in yours and attempt to get him to look at you. “John? John what happened?”

Another large sniff, “I w-wasn't able t-to save any of y-you!” He sobs. You are a little surprised to hear this. John is usually so good at found what is best for his friends. “I-I froze. A huge m-monster kept yelling at me over and over. ‘Choose! Choose!’ But I couldn't do it,” he looks up at you slightly, “I watched all three of you fall out of the ship and die. I-I don't d-deserve to be a part of the mission.”

You remember being a little confused to hear this. You had no news of who was to be on the departing spaceship late. Could it be that everyone else was told but you?

You look at Jake to ease your confusion a little, but it's Dirk that answers, “You, John, Rose, and Dave were chosen for the mission. Congrats kiddo.” He says it without resentment or malice, but it still leaves you feeling guilty. 

Dave opens his mouth as if to combat this statement but shuts it again quickly.

The door opens and all of your heads turn to look in that direction. There is nothing tree at all, only a dark gaping hole. You stand and move towards it, somehow drawn to it. Everyone else turns back to their conversation as though nothing happened. You go through the door and emerge on the other side. It slams behind you.

You have travelled into a new scene. Dave sits in front of you. His glasses sit on the bench next to him and tears are freely flowing down his face. You sit on the bench and take his hands the way you had that day. Neither of you say anything at first. Eventually Dave wipes his eyes with his sleeve and looks at you.

“I-I wasn't even the one they chose,” he chokes out, “it was Dirk.”

You nod trying to keep him talking. He's rarely willing to share his feelings. 

“I just-,” he looks down “I just feel so guilty. He won fair and square and I made him give it up.”

“I know what you mean,” you answer honestly, “like I know I'm a better shot than Jake but I still feel like he should have been able to-”

“No. No that's not what I mean,” he lowers his eyebrows trying to reword his statement, “I mean I literally took the position from him.”

“Oh?” You tilt your head slightly in confusion.

“He told me to take it but I… I shouldn't have.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did he tell you to take it?”

“Because of you.”

“Me?” Now you're even more confused, “what do you mean.”

“He, uh, well you know. In his simulation he lost Jake. It sort of really messed him up,” Dave says, slowly regaining his composure.

“And?” you say to push him a little more.

“And he doesn't want me to have to deal with that.”

“Hm?” You're fairly certain you understand now but you have to hear him say it.

“Losing you would mess me up like that. Because I care about you, and all and-”

“I love you, too,” you say, grinning broadly as you watch the blush gradually darkening his cheeks.

You release his hands causing him to look up. You through your arms around him. Your eyes close. When they open again there is something else in the room.

The alien girl is standing before you with her eyes closed. Her hair is a wild, curly mass that seems to tangle a little more every time she moves. A long, gray skirt covers most of her legs. It is torn like the black shirt she wears. One the shirt is a maroon Aries symbol. 

You look back at Dave in an attempt to ignore her. A moment later, her eyelids open to reveal her completely white eyes. A single finger with long yellow-painted nails points at you. “Alien!” She screams, “You there! Alien!”

This isn't right. Why is this happening. You look around frantically for some sign. Your eyes land back on Dave but he's fading away. Soon he is gone. Nothing remains except the girl and her cries of “Alien! Alien!” All colors begin to fade into one another until all you are left with is a dark shade of red and the sound of a stranger’s voice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another large gap between posts what a surprise! (But it's earlier in the day so maybe that's a plus?) I'm still going to try and keep up posting on Sundays it just probably won't be regular. Hope you like it and comment if you see any mistakes or have anything to say.


End file.
